A Brief History
1944, World War II – Iceland may have escaped many of the atrocities visited to mainland Europe during this time, but it’s strategic position as an air and naval base by no means left it unscathed. It too faced the threat of occupation and ration shortages. Since paper was one of the few items not rationed, the citizens of Iceland, which already had a strong literary tradition, began giving books as presents on Christmas Eve. So began Jolabokaflod.
Translating to “The Christmas Book Flood,” Jolabokaflod is still a popular tradition in Iceland. And because, cozying up on Christmas Eve with a new book and some hot chocolate sounds perfect, my boyfriend (hereafter referred to as B) and I decided we’d adopt this tradition as well. This was our first year doing it, and we loved it.
Picking a Book to Gift
Recently B has been reading a lot of mythology, analysis books, and nonfiction. This is a shift from his previous preferences of contemporary fantasy and detective fiction. I attribute part of this change to his desire to push his boundaries and be challenged by the books he reads. So, I wanted to get something that would intrigue him and play on his inherent curiosity without being a typical detective novel. And after a quick google search of “really unique books” – I found S. A collaboration between J.J. Abrams and Doug Dorst, S. is an ultra-meta re-imagining of the lines that exist between reality and fiction. A story within a story, the margins of a book called the Ship of Theseus are marked up by two fictional students researching the book’s mysterious author. The dialogue between the students and the plot of the Ship of Theseus form the narrative of S. I think the unconventionality of the book intrigued him, and so far he seems happy with his present.
The Books I Received
As for me, I loved the books I received. That’s right, I got more than one (the boy really knows how to make a girl feel special). Knowing my soft spot for British children’s literature, and my never-ending desire to further my infant niece’s schooling with the classics (she just turned 1, and I’ve already bought her 4 books), he gave me a beautiful copy of A Beatrix Potter Treasury. It includes ten of her stories with the original illustrations, and it was the perfect, comforting read for Christmas Eve.
To further my own education, he also gave me a compilation of Stephen Hawking’s A Brief History of Time and The Universe in a Nutshell. Apparently, I ask a lot of “basic science” questions, and everyone but me “knows there’s no air in outer-space.” While it’s a book I would have been too intimidated to buy for myself, I love it so far. I’ve been working to read more nonfiction titles, and Hawking writes in a very clear, accessible style. Even my English major brain has no trouble understanding it, and the scale of the questions addressed never ceases to astound me.
I also received a copy of Teach Yourself Visually: Crochet and The Intuitionist. Having received so many great books from B, I’ve already started brainstorming ideas for next year’s Jolabokaflod.
Have your own literary traditions? We’d love to hear about them in the comments below.
